“House of the Dragon,” a “Game of Thrones” prequel set 172 years ahead of the iconic HBO series, has a lot to live up to.
The later seasons of “Game of Thrones” left a bad taste in many fans' mouths, and the series finale nearly caused Twitter to collapse in on itself. But that doesn’t negate the fact that it was one of the most popular series HBO ever produced, as well as an Emmy winning machine.
Because “Game of Thrones” existed during the start of the streaming age, it’s tough to definitely say it was the most popular series the network ever produced, even if that seems likely, because programs like, say, “Sex and the City” benefitted from the old-school Nielsen metrics.
But considering how much streaming had thoroughly dominated the television industry by 2019, the record-setting 19.3 million viewers for the finale was absolutely massive.
So given those numbers, it was inevitable that HBO, which is now officially part of the Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) umbrella, would try to launch a spin-off as soon as the series concluded, however divisively, in 2019. (One executive once quipped they’d be doing a bad job if they didn’t at least try.)
If Your First Spin-Off Fails, Try Again
HBO actually had a bit of a bake-off in terms of spin-offs, reportedly entertaining up to six different story pitches.
The network even spent $30 million on a pilot, staring Naomi Watts no less, that would have taken place thousands of years before the series and it’s main families were introduced.
But HBO tried again, ordering “House of Dragon,” direct to series. Based on materials from creator George R. R. Martin’s 2018 book “Fire & Blood,” the series focused on the Targaryen family, aka the people with the white hair that control all the dragons that Daenerys Targaryen descends from. The show was developed with Martin, as well as writer Ryan J. Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, who directed many stand out “Thrones” episodes.
HBO doesn’t desperately need this to work, mind you.
It’s HBO, or HBO Max these days, until that name changes again once the merger with Discovery is fully complete. HBO Max has plenty of popular series that dominate the cultural conversation.
But it would really, really love if it "House of Dragons" took off.
Earning buzz on Twitter and in the media is one thing, but the culture-conquering power of a title like “Game of Thrones” far outstrips the reach of a series like “Succession” or “The White Lotus.” That is not a slam against those excellent series. But those are shows that keep the core HBO fan happy. “Game of Thrones” delivered action spectacle on a wide scale, while at its best balancing rich, character-based drama.
If HBO Max is going to continue to grow, and to reach new CEO David Zaslav’s hopes to get the subscriber totals to 130 million global subscriber by 2025, they’re going to need material that caters to the broadest possible audience, and adding Discovery series like “Property Brothers” onto the streaming service isn’t going to cut it.
(Whether focusing on big hits like “House of Dragons” will come at the expense of finding the next small-scale but widely beloved gem like “Barry” or “Hacks” remains to be seen, but also remains a great source of worry to TV aficionados.)
HBO
The Success of 'House of Dragons' Is Not A Foregone Conclusion
Fortunately, everyone (or most people) likes action spectacle, sex and people getting stabbed with swords. But the success of “House of Dragons,” is very far from a fait accompli.
If all it took to extend the popularity of a popular show was to make a spin-off of that title and watch the ratings roll in, then "AfterMASH" would be just as well-loved as "M*A*S*H," the most popular TV drama of all time.
We won’t know how “House of Dragons” actually does for quite a while. While people complained about that last Thrones season, there’s still going to be a lot of curiosity about a spin-off, and plenty of fans will at least check the series out. (While many fans are permanently swearing off the franchise for good after the end, many others secretly hope a new series can remind them why they love Marin’s world.)
HBO has been telegraphiing that they don’t expect the series to hit the viewership totals of the final season, and would be more than happy for numbers in the 6 to 10 million range, Zaslav is very likely to trumpet any success, but the real test will be to see how many viewers complete the season, and come back for the next one, as the show would have to truly bomb to not get at least one renewal.
But for now, HBO and Zaslav are putting their best foot forward, as the CEO reportedly said in a company wide e-mail that "I had a chance to watch the premiere in Los Angeles with [HBO boss Casey Bloys] and the team and was blown away by the quality of the production, richness of the story, and power of the action."
Sounds great! Now let's see what everyone else has to say about it.
